Science and Technology › Materials and nanotechnology

Critical minerals and rare earths

India's search for critical minerals and rare earths: auctions and finds at home, blocks and alliances abroad, recycling, and the refining that decides who controls supply. Prelims has asked about rare earths and the National Critical Mineral Mission, lithium in Chile, and monazite.

Foundation note: Critical minerals: the list, the law and the chain

UPSC has asked

Prelims 2025: rare earths in flat screens, and their phosphorescence

Showing 2 of 9 articles, those that changed from 1 to 31 July 2026.Show all

National Critical Mineral Mission

Prelims and Mains

The National Critical Mineral Mission, approved in January 2025, is India's umbrella programme for critical mineral security.

It covers exploration at home, processing, recovery from waste, acquisition of assets abroad through KABIL, and stockpiling.
Stockpiling agreements with partners such as Japan, and access to processing chains abroad, are how it works outside India.

What changed

2 Jul 2026BriefIndia and Japan agreed to cooperate on strategic stockpiling of critical minerals, covering national and industry stockpiles and emergency response. The Indian Express, 2 Jul 2026: India works on nickel access in Indonesia and on stockpiling with Japan (opens in a new tab)

Background reading: PIB, 11 Sep 2026: Critical Minerals Key to India's Energy Security, Industrial Competitiveness and National Security: Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh (opens in a new tab) · The Indian Express, 6 Jul 2026: India works on nickel access in Indonesia and on stockpiling with Japan (opens in a new tab)

UPSC has asked

Prelims 2026: rare earth elements and the National Critical Mineral Mission

Critical mineral block auctions

Prelims and Mains

The Centre auctions blocks of critical minerals in tranches under the mining law amended in 2023, offering rare earths, lithium, graphite, vanadium, tungsten and potash among others.

What changed

15 Jul 2026BriefThe eighth tranche includes blocks of rare earths, vanadium, gallium, graphite, tungsten and potash, and one block in West Bengal with lithium, caesium and rubidium. PIB, 15 Jul 2026: Union Minister Shri G. Kishan Reddy and Minister of State Shri Satish Chandra Dubey Launch the Eighth Tranche of Auction of 20 Critical and Strategic Mineral Blocks (opens in a new tab)

Also filed elsewhere

India's deep sea mining programme · on Ocean, polar and earth science missions
India's deep sea mining programme explores the seabed for minerals under three International Seabed Authority contracts.
Urban mining · on E-waste, battery and hazardous waste
Urban mining is recovering metals and critical minerals from electronics at the end of life.